


Heroes of the War

by PerfectlyHopeless



Series: Glass Cannon & Other Short Works [6]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Post War, Shep and Garrus are parents, introducing Navi Shepard-Vakarian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 23:45:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11195976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyHopeless/pseuds/PerfectlyHopeless
Summary: When Rhea and Garrus take their daughter to the Memorial Wall on the Citadel, Navi decides she wants to be a hero like her mom.





	Heroes of the War

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends, this fic falls in line with the rest of the drabbles I've written for Rhea Shepard, my main femshep alt. 
> 
> This was written in a couple of hours after seeing the new meflashfanwork theme of "Legacy". Took the opportunity to write about Rhea's adopted daughter, Navi. I hope you enjoy ^_^

“Momma!” shouted a high pitched voice, the little turian girl running towards her human mother. She had dark leather skin and pale plating a little like her father, a smile plastered on her face.

Rhea smiled as she bent down a bit to catch her in her arms, lifting her daughter up and hooking her on her side. For a brief moment she was jealous of turian women and their hips, if only for the ability to carry her child easier. Navi was only a few years old and small for a turian, but already she was much bigger than most human kids her age. Rhea was already short enough as it was. Navi clung to her mother, holding herself up for the most part.

“Damn, she’s fast,” the ever familiar voice of Rhea’s partner said. She looked up at Garrus and smiled.

“Language,” she warned almost teasingly. It was almost impossible to get a couple of ex-soldiers like them to stop swearing, but having a child helped. “Where did you two run off to?”

“Navi wanted to see the memorial,” he explained, reaching out to his daughter and taking her hand in his for a moment.

“Heroes! You’re so big, Momma!” Navi said with a grin, her little mandibles pulling apart proudly.

“Only in holo form, baby girl,” Rhea said, nuzzling her daughter’s forehead affectionately before kissing her cheek.

“Commander Shepard!” she cheered in English. The little girl was growing up without a translator, learning English and turian basic. It was a learning experience for the whole family, one that lead to frustrations but more often to laughter at the sound of their bilingual child’s switching between one language to another in an attempt to convey whatever she might be thinking. “I want to show you, Momma!”

Were it anyone else, Rhea would be reluctant to go see anything with her face plastered everywhere. But there was no way she could ever resist Navi.

With a sigh she relented, setting Navi down and holding her hand as the little girl lead her through the crowd with more determination than a four year old should be capable of. Garrus followed closely behind, holding Rhea’s other hand as their little family made it up to the memorial wall.

It had taken nearly a decade to figure out how to repair most of the mass effect relays, and that same amount of time to fix the Citadel and restore it to a shadow of what it was. The rebuilding effort was still going strong, however. Lives were being pieced back together slowly but surely. But for the lives that had been lost, each world had set up their own piece of remembrance. There was no way to recognize each and every life lost, the numbers were far too great for that. But there were other ways.

A tall marble wall had been erected in the Presidium, built from pieces of stone from the homeworlds of every species that had been attacked by the Reapers. From Earth to Palaven, from Thessia to Tuchanka, from Sur’kesh to Rannoch, and so on. A holo in the center switched from language to language, each translating to, “In times of need, we are all united.” To the sides of the wall were other smaller memorials that had been set up to recognize the heroes of the war. Each species saw various people as their saviors, but despite everything they seemed to have decided that the great Commander Shepard had been their ultimate savior.

The tall holo depicted Rhea in her dress uniform for the Alliance, though she’d been retired for almost eight years, with her wavy black hair still short and her facial features neutral. She was flanked by various figures from different battles, though it was the image of Anderson that made her choke up. He was in his dress blues, admiral’s stripes sitting proud on his shoulders. He was just as she remembered him, his dark eyes holding a kindness in them that she’d always found reassuring.

Her grip on Garrus’ hand tightened. He squeeze back, stepping closer so that their arms touched.

Navi looked up at her mother excitedly, bouncing a little on her toes until she saw the expression on her face. “Momma?”

“I’m fine, baby girl,” Rhea said, running her thumb over the top of Navi’s hand. “Just seeing an old friend for the first time in a while.”

“Who?” she asked, her head whipping back and forth looking for someone she knew.

Rhea smiled and let go of Garrus to kneel beside their daughter. She took hold of Navi’s hand and pointed it at the holo of Anderson. “See that man right there?”

“Yeah,” Navi said, nodding.

“That’s Admiral Anderson,” she explained, speaking slow enough for Navi to easily follow. “He’s the man who taught me how to be a hero.”

Navi’s eyes focused on the holo, looking it up and down as though storing it in her memories before she looked back at her mother. “Teach me, Momma!”

Rhea looked over the innocent face of the little girl that she loved with all her heart, her daughter even if they shared no blood. If she could have her way, Navi would never know hardship and never know war. But learning how to defend herself was never a bad idea.

“Alright, baby girl,” she said, hoisting her up on her hip again. “When you’re older, I’ll teach you how to be a hero.”

“Daddy too!” Navi cheered, reaching for her father.

Garrus chuckled at this and put an arm around his two favorite people in the galaxy, holding them against him. “Sure thing, Navi.”

Rhea glanced at the holo of Anderson, swallowing a lump in her throat. He’d told her that she’d make a great mother, and at the time it seemed like nothing more than pure fantasy. She’d been blasted and shot all to hell at the time, had lost a lot of blood in the process. It felt as though she’d been saying anything just to stay conscious. But he’d believed in her.

“I wish he could see us now,” she thought out loud.

“He’d be proud of you,” Garrus said, his voice low and reassuring.

Rhea licked at her lips and nodded a little. “He would,” she agreed. She looked over at Navi, the little girl oblivious to her being shifted as she scanned the crowd. “Come on baby girl, let’s get you something to eat.”

Navi perked up at that, grinning once again. “Lunch!”

Garrus and Rhea both laughed at this. The three of them started away, the happy parents holding each other’s hands while their over eager daughter marveled at everything on the Citadel. Rhea held Navi close to her as they maneuvered through the crowd. She gave Navi another kiss on the cheek as they started away, making a silent promise to herself to do anything to keep her baby girl as happy as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little drabble of mine. Please leave a comment if you can, I appreciate and adore feedback in all of it's forms. 
> 
> Until next time, thank you for reading!


End file.
